KILDARE: Legendary guitarist goes back to his roots in Athy to play gig

Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is set to play Athy's Dreamland Ballroom, the venue where his parents first met in the early 1960s, RTE reports.

Both of Marr's parents, John Joseph Maher (who is now 81) and Frances Patricia Doyle (75), are from the town and moved to Manchester to start a new life for themselves as a young couple.

Marr, who changed his surname, will play the Dreamland Ballroom on June 25, with tickets going on sale this Friday at 10am.

The acclaimed guitarist visited Athy town in 2018 to unveil a plaque on Emily Square celebrating his roots.

The plaque is part of the Made in Athy project.

The told RTÉ at the time that it was a "beautiful" visit.

"It's kind of almost overwhelming seeing these faces that have turned out, and some of them look like me as well which is kind of amazing," Marr said.

"I'm meeting some of my cousins and my relatives so, on a personal level, it's beautiful."

When asked if he would seek Irish citizenship saying, he said, "If they'll take me, I'm on board. If they'll have me, I'm around!"

Playing music since the age of 13, Marr was co-founder and co-songwriter in The Smiths.

Marr created the distinctive Smiths jangly guitar sound, a sound which has gone on to influence countless bands such as The Cranberries, The Sundays, The Decemberists and The National.

It is Johnny Marr that we have to thank for such classics as This Charming Man, There Is A Light, That Never Goes Out and Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want.

Since leaving The Smiths, Johnny Marr has carved out an award-winning career as a collaborator and solo-artist.

Marr has played with The Pretenders, Modest Mouse and The Cribs. He formed Electronic with Bernard Sumner of New Order and has also collaborated with Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry and Hans Zimmer.

One of his most notable projects in recent years was the creation of a soundtrack for the 25th James Bond Movie No Time To Die.

Marr’s solo output has gone from strength to strength and his recent performance at the 2023 Electric Picnic can only be described as sublime. Johnny Marr has just released a ‘Spirit Power’, a compilation of his best songs from his solo recordings.

He has also just published a new book called Marr’s Guitars. It contains photographs of each of Marr’s guitars and a short essay on each by the man himself.

In 2010, Marr was voted the fourth-best guitarist of the last 30 years in a BBC Poll. Mojo have described him as arguably Britain’s last great guitar stylist and the NME gave him their ‘Godlike Genius’ award in 2013.